Continuous milling machine



D. SUNDSITIVRAND 1,843,345

CONTINUOUS MILLING MACHINE Filed July 12, 1929 lure/71151? 5. 5 Mira/71d;

' Patented Felt. 2 1932 eus'rar na sweet cairn e or a can, more,

E TL wear 4 QB RUGGED, ILLINOIS, A CQRI PORATION 0F ILLINOIS @(GETTINUQUg rme GENE Application area an is,

Continuous/Hing machines are used for the production or. duplicate work pieces, and emhody a plurality oilwork holders mounted on one or more movable supports so as to he moved successively into operative relation with the same cutter or with one of a plurality of cutters so that duri the performance of the cutting operation on a work piece in one work holder, another work holder may he unclamped and the finished work piece removed and replaced hy a new piece.

In such machines the movement of the work support or supports is controlled by suitable trip devices which cause the support or supports to move through a constantly recurring operating cycle, the movements of the cycle, of course, lacing dependent upon the class of work and the type of continuous miller used. The present invention relates to the type of continuous milling machines in which the feeding movement of the work support constitutes a continuation of the approach movement thereof, the most come mon type of such machines having a longitudinally reciprocahle talole with work holders mounted thereon in longitunally spaced relation so that a work piece may he milled each time the direction or movement of the table is changed.

In machines of this character heretofore used, the cutting means has heen positioned intermediate the two spaced work holders so that upon reciprocation of the table through a stroke of film; lenh, the holders are hrought alternatelyinto operative relation with the cutting means Various arrange= ments of cutters have been employed, some machines having two oppositely disposed cutters fired on a single arhor in axially ether in accordance with the direction of movementot the table so that the cutting operation may he perfoed in a similar ruse. serial no. traces.

so that each arhor might be continuously rotated,

in the use of a machine having either of these two arrangements of cutters, the operator loads one of the holders while it is posin into operative relation thereto. The operator may then remove the completed work from its holder, hut it will be seen that in order todo this he must walk along the talole for a distance equalto the distance between the two holders plus the length of the stroke of the tahle.

In order to give the operator time'to move from one loading position to the other it has been necessary in the prior art machines to make the total time between loading periods longer than would otherwise be necessary. Furtheore, the continual movement hack and forth fro one loading position to the other has resulted in undue fatigue of the operator.

'lhepresent invention has for its primary object the provision of an improved continuous mil ing machine of this t e constructed so that the operator may oad all of the work holders hour the same position whereby to avoid loss'oi time in it"; from one position to another and to avoid undue tatie'on the part of the operator so that a high rate of production may be maintained throughout the day.

Another object is to provide such, a millspindles mounted in spaced relation with a movahle support carrying a pair of work holders oath adapted for cooperation with one of the cutters, the support being adapted by movement through a given stroke in opi so spaced relation between the two work holders posits directions to move the work holders alternately into operative relation with their respective cutters and during such movement to move the holder ,carrying the linish work piece to a point whereit'wi'llbe within ltd manner on work pieces secured in either work holder. i

Other machines of this type haveemployed two cutter arbors mounted in horizontally easy reach of an operator stationed at a point equidistant from. the cutters.

Another object is to provide such a machine having horizontally spaced cutters with a work table reciprocable transversely thereof together with a pair of work holders mounted on the table between the two cutters so that the holders are broug alternately into operative relation with the ad jacent sides of the cutters by reciprocatory movement of the table.

@ther objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a front elevational view of a milling machine embodying the preferred form of the invention,

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the preferred operating cycle employed in the machine.

For purposes of disclosure the invention is herein illustrated and hereinafter described in detail as applied to a machine having horizontally spaced cutters rotatable about horizontal axes and cooperating with worlr holders mounted on a single support arranged for movement back and forth along a rectilinear path, but it is to be understood that tiis disclosure is not to be taken as a limitation of the invention to the particular construction and arrangement shown, it being contemplated that various changes may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope oi" the appended claims.

In the term shown the invent-ion is embodied in a milling machine having a bed with a comparatively wide column 11 upstanding from the rear portion thereof and having a movable work support in the term or a table 12 reciprocable transversely of the bed 10 in front of the column. @n opposite sides ot the column ll a pair of spindle heads l3, 13, are mounted arranged for vertical adjustment on ways it, l4? by means oil screws 15, 15 The heads 18 and 13 carr rotatably mounted spindles (not shownl positioned transversely with respect to the path oi movement oil the table 12 and driven y means including-a pair of splined shafts 1? 17 projecting upwardly from the bed 10 and operativelyconnected to the spindles within the heads by means of gears 18, 18*. For the purpose of supporting a pair of milling cutters 20, 20' over the table 12, a,

pair of overarms 21, 21 are mounted in the heads 13, 13 respectively so as to project over the table parallel to and above the spindles and carrying pendants 22, 22 at their outer ends. The cutter 20 is fixed on an arbor 23, the inner end of which is supported and driven by the spindle (not shown) in the head 13 While the outer end is supported by the pendant 22. The cutter 20 narrates is similarly fixed on an arbor 23 which is similarly supported by the pendant 22 and the spindle (not shown) in the head 18.

In the present embodiment the table 12 is moved back and forth along its path at teed or rapid traverse speeds in either direction by means of an hydraulic actuating mechanism of a conventional character which includes a double acting piston and cylinder device (not shown) mounted within the bed and connected to opposite ends of the table 12 by piston rod 24:, but it will be understood that the table may be reciprocated by various other forms of criving means. The actuating mechanism is controlled manually by a control handle 25 positioned on the bed of the machine forwardly of the table and midway between the two spindles.

The movement of the table may also be controlled automatically by means oil a welllrnown character including suitable dogs 26 secured on the forward edge of the table and arranged during movement of the table to engage trip devices 27 and 28 to change the speed and/or direction of movement of table.

For the purpose of supporting worlr pieces 29 for operative engagement with the cutters 20, 20 a pair of work holders 30 30 are mounted on the table 12 at positions spaced longitudinally thereof, and in order that the holders may be loaded with minimum amount oi eflort and to save operating time,

the

the holders arespaced at a distance less than the distance between the cutters and are lined on the table so as normally to be between the spindles, Thus upon reciprocation of the table over a definite stroke, the work holders will be brought alternately into cooperating relation with the adjacent cutter and it will be noted that each work holder always cooperates with the same cutter and during the performance of a cutting operation on a work piece in one holder, the other holder will be positioned remotely from its cutter so that the operator may unclamp the work carried by the second holder and clamp a new piece in position by means of the handle 31 or 31. llt will be understood that the form and dimensions of the work holders will vary with the character of the work pieces.

It will be readily seen that when one holder is moved into operative relation to its cutter the other holder will be moved away from its cutter and toward the transverse center line of the machine and within easy reach of an operator standing in front of the manual control handle 25 so that he may replace the work in both holders without moving from his position.

lln the use of the machine the dogs 26 are set so that the table is given a recurrent cycle of movement in opposite directions, as indicated diagrammatically in Fig. 2, the first Ill ; ator may part of the movement in each direction being at rapid traverse speed and the last part in the same direction being at feeding speed, Thus after completion of a cutting operation, upon a work piece clamped in the holder 30 as shown in Fig. 2, the movement of the table 12 is reversed and 'the table'is moved to the right atrapid traverse speed, this particular movement constitutin a ra id return movement (indicated as R. in ig. 2) for the finished work piece in the holder 30, and

constituting'a rapid approach movement (indicated as R. A. in Fig. 2) for the new work piece clamped in the holder 30. When the older 30 has advanced nearly to the cutter '20, the rate of movement of the table 12 is changed to feeding speed so that subsequent movement of the table to the right constitutes a cut-ting movement for the holder 30 and provides a period during which the holder 30 may be reloaded. When the milling of the piece is completed, the table is reversed and the operation repeated in the opposite direction. v

From the foregoin it will be apparent-that the invention provi es a continuous milling machine with which an extremely high rate of production may be obtained since the operalways remain in the same position adjacent the manual control handle and from this position may load all of the work holders. By reason of the reduced amount of efi'ort required of the operator, his efiiciency will be incr'eased'so that the high rate of production may be maintained throughoutthe entire working day. I

I claim as my invention 1. A continuous milling inachine comprising, in combination, a bed, a work table reciprocable on said bed, apair of cutter spindles extending transversely of said table,

' a cutter connected to each spindle, means for rotating said (sipindles, said spindles being spaced longitu mally of the path of movement of said table, and'a pair of work holders mounted on said table at points spaced longitudinally of said path, the distance between said spindles being greater than the distance between said work holders.

2. A continuous milling machine comprising, in combination, a pair of driven cutter spindles spaced horizontally from each other, a cutter connected to each spindle, a movable work support, a pair of work holders mounted on said support and spaced from each other along the path of movement of said support, each of said holders being adapted to cooperate with one of said cutters, said work holders being positioned on said support so that one of said holders is brought intooper- 'ative relation with its cutter at the end of a given movement of the support in one direction, the other holder is brought into operative relation with its cutter at the end of a corre- -sponding movement of the support in the I 

